Explanatory model of antecedents and outcomes of health and safety climate in the South African construction industry
Workplace injuries and fatalities are a major cause of concern for government and organisations in South Africa. The cost incurred by government as compensation for injuries that occur in the workplace has increased steadily over the past 10 years. This has raised the need for alternative approaches to dealing with causes of workplace injuries and fatalities. The loss of employees due to workplace fatalities and the cost of medical care have both direct and indirect cost implications for organisations. The cost of hiring replacement labour while the injured employee is on leave, the cost of training a new employee, paying for medical care for the original employee, and reduced productivity due to lack of experience of the incoming replacement are financially draining and detrimental to the functions of organisations. The primary objective of the study being reported here was to develop an explanatory model of the health and safety (H&S) climate in the local construction industry. A secondary objective was to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the study of the health and safety climate in the South African construction industry. A literature review, observations and structured interviews informed the development of a survey questionnaire. The survey was completed by construction workers who were members of the Master Builders Association South Africa (MBASA) in the Western Cape. On-site observations and structured interviews by the researcher informed the development of a pen-and-paper survey, which was completed by construction workers at selected building sites from organisations who were members of MBASA. A pilot study was conducted for refinement of the survey measurement tool. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis techniques. Partial least squares path analysis was used to test the structure of the proposed model. In total, 1 200 surveys were administered, and a total of 851 participants completed the survey. This study provided empirical evidence of the link between antecedents of the health and safety climate and health and safety performance. Overall, the proposed health and safety model showed significant predictive ability for health and safety incident reporting (R² = .464, p = <.001), health and safety motivation (R² = .450, p = <.001) and health and safety performance (R² = .508, p = <.001). Path analysis found a predictive ability of health and safety performance to injuries (R² = .028, p = <.001). The findings provided evidence-based support for the variables of top management's commitment to health and safety and health and safety communications and the predictive ability of these on positive health and safety behaviour. Predicting injuries in the construction industry can help to reduce the high costs of compensation and make employees in the sector safer. Insights gained from this study will contribute to the field of occupational health psychology in particular at both academic and practical level.
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